Flag of New Cambria
The current Flag of New Cambria (French: '''Drapeau de la Nouvelle-Cambrie'; Keva: Jahvo se Orvehi Đijoro) was adopted by an Act of Parliament on 23 June 1974. The flag is a horizontal tricolour of red (top), white (1/11 of the flag width), and blue defaced with an ornament of two intersecting wedges in the centre. Two coequal versions of the flag exist, one in a horizontal orientation for use outdoors, and one in a vertical orientation for use indoors. The idea of flag reform began almost immediately after New Cambria's independence from Great Britain was recognized in 1961. Parliament sponsored a contest to select a new national flag, but the number of submissions was disappointingly low, and most of the proposals were received from Americans and Canadians. In a hastily-made parliamentary decision, the fledgling republic's first flag was simply the provincial flag with the Union Flag removed from the canton and replaced with solid light blue. Throughout the republic's earliest years, interest in designing a new flag was relatively low. In 1969, however, a group of citizens formed the ''Sovereign Symbols Movement, which sought to cultivate a desire to develop the country's national symbols among the general public. The movement succeeded, and in 1972, Parliament sponsored another flag design contest. Parliament also commissioned several designs in addition to accepting submissions from the public. The objective was to create a flag that incorporated symbols from New Cambria's British, French, and Keva communities. Over 200 proposed flags were submitted during the 1972-1973 contest, and Parliament presented a shortlist of six finalists (two commissioned, four submitted) to the people on 28 October 1973. New Cambria Public Television invited viewers to vote for their favorite design in a postal vote. Parliament unveiled the winner of the flag contest in a public ceremony on the steps of Parliament buildings on 23 June 1974. The current flag represents French-New Cambrians with its blue-white-red tricolor design, though the New Cambrian flag is a horizontal tricolor, rather than a French-style vertical tricolor. British-New Cambrians are represented in that the shades of red and blue on New Cambria's flag are identical to the shades of red and blue on the Union Flag. The Keva contribution is the white diamond and stripes in the middle of the flag. In Keva culture, the diamond represents the four seasons, the four cardinal directions, and the four principles of living. The diamond and pointed stripes used in the flag has been used in Keva artwork for centuries. Since its adoption in 1974, the New Cambrian flag has enjoyed high popularity amongst the public, and it is seen as an attractive and sensible integration of the country's three largest populations. The flag's redesign inspired a renewed interest in the country's distinct cultural traditions, and 23 June is celebrated as Flag Day in New Cambria. In 1994, the Supreme Court of New Cambria determined that the constitutional freedom of expression did not include flag burning, though this only applied to burning the New Cambrian flags; the flags of other nations or peoples were not addressed in the decision. In the Keva language, the flag is colloquially called ez Jođ, which is an acronym formed from Jahvo se Orvehi Đijoro, ("Flag of New Cambria" in Keva). Coincidentally, New Cambria's flag bears some similarities to the flags of Croatia, the Netherlands and Paraguay. Specifications The design of the flag is specified by the Constitutional Law of the National Flag of New Cambria (1974). The aspect ratio was defined to be 2:3, which made the flag shorter than the version of 1961. The colours are specified as the same as the colours of the "Royal Union Flag", but according to the recommendation of 2003 they were redefined as: Ensigns The flags of the 1922 and 1961 did coincide with the country's blue ensigns, and had their respective white ensign and Red ensign versions. When the blue ensign-like flag was abolished in 1974, it was generally perceived that the ensigns are abolished as well, and most private-owned ships used the widely promoted national flag from then on. But it was not correct from legal point of view: the law of 1974 did introduce the new national flag, but it stated nothing about what flag should be flown over the ships, and therefore the old ensigns still had to be used. The situation was resolved one year later when the National Nautical Board adopted design of the new ensigns, which were based on the old ones, but had the new national flag in canton. Category:New Cambria Category:Flags